


One Step Ahead

by lunchablepizza



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Tags TBA, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Never Met, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Foster Family, Kinda, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Past One-Sided Sonamy, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Shadow is Sadow, Sibling Rouge/Shadow, Sibling Tails/Sonic, Slight Canon Divergence, Sonic is Curious, Trans Shadow, Trans Sonic, not canon ages, slowburn, thats not rlly crucial to the story at all but :)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunchablepizza/pseuds/lunchablepizza
Summary: Sonic was a rising track star at Central City Highschool, he was destined for greatness. The hedgehog seemed unmatched by the other students, no question. However, at the start of his Junior year, a new student comes along. An elusive and mysterious hedgehog named Shadow, the new foster brother of Sonic's friend, Rogue. While troubled by his sudden rivalry, Sonic can't help but be intrigued by the new student. Theres just something about him...





	1. Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> QUICK CHARACTER AGE GUIDE! (these are loosely based off of their ages but some are changed to fit in to the story, please bear with me)  
> \--  
> Sonic - 16 Junior  
> Shadow - 16 Junior  
> Amy - 14 Freshman  
> Knuckles - 16 Junior  
> Tails - 12 Freshman (skipped grades)  
> Rouge - 17 Senior  
> Silver - 15 Sophomore  
> Blaze - 15 Sophomore

Sonic smoothed a hand over the flaking white tape holding his shoes together, attempting to make it stick to the worn down soles once more. Taking a deep breath, he squatted down into a running position, squeezing every amount of focus he had into the concrete trail around the park. Dead leaves were blowing in the crisp autumn afternoon, and the breeze was just enough to make him shiver ever so slightly. Despite the air getting colder, he still donned a sleeveless jersey and running shorts.  
Sonic shut his eyes, blocking everything out around him.  
  
Three...  
Two...  
One...  
  
The cobalt hedgehog sped into action, kicking up a sizable cloud of dirt and pebbles around him as he started off. He was determined to beat his record before the first track meet, whether he could handle it or not. His lungs burned as he raced through the first lap, unaware of the new inhabitant.  
  
Another hedgehog, clad in a thick black hoodie, roller blades, elbow pads and ripped jeans sat on the rickety old bench right beside the path. He glanced up for a moment before tugging at the laces of his skates, standing to brush himself off.  
Sonic zipped by the other, oblivious. The black and red quills of the dark hedgehog moved with the wind as he observed the blue blur.

  
This park was always empty at this time of night, its why Sonic practiced there. Sure it was a pretty far walk away from his house, but the solitude was nice compared to the school's field. Sonic loved the attention, sure, but he did tend to feel the pressure while practicing his endurance.  
Sonic only had a few laps to go before he noticed a blur of dark colors speed past him.  
Suddenly caught off guard, Sonic stopped, skidding on the concrete. The black and red hedgehog had briskly skated past him. They locked eyes for a brief moment, and Sonic could have sworn that the other was taunting him.  
The cobalt hedgehog was taken aback. He had never seen this guy before, so why did it seem like he was almost... challenging him? He crossed his arms across his chest and stared for a moment, catching another sharp glare from the other.  
...This was _definitely_ a challenge.  
Sonic puffed out his chest, sniffing haughtily at the opposing hedgehog,  
  
"If it's a race you want, then it's a race you'll get,"  
  
Sonic pulled up the cuffs of his gloves before dashing off behind the other boy, making sure to put on a show of dust and rocks.  
It was easy for him to catch up with the stranger, but the problem that Sonic had seemed to face was passing him.  
And yet, Sonic was almost... entertained. He had a hard time finding some real competition at school and track meets but he wondered why it was here, of all places? With a total stranger, at that.  
Sonic turned away, urging himself to sprint just a little farther. He squeezed his eyes shut, his lungs were screaming for him to stop, but his mind begged him to continue. The competition just felt too great. He could feel the speed as he lurched forward, a grin breaking through his muzzle. He chuckled,  
"I hope you like the taste of dust!"  
However, when he cracked an eye open, he noticed the Inky quills turning in the opposite direction. Sonic turned on his heels, watching the boy skate away in shock.  
The mysterious hedgehog sped towards a warped wooden plank, skating over it and landing on top of a large rock. He stood on top, watching the dumbfounded Sonic with a blank expression before huffing and skating off in the distance at a much slower pace.  
The blue hedgehog stood in silence before fully realizing exactly what just happened. Finally acknowledging the burning of his muscles and heaving breaths, he decides not to finish his training for the day.

\--

"Sonic, you really need some new shoes." Amy chided, pointing at the tattered and beaten sneakers the other always wore. Since the night before they had only gotten worse. Despite dressing them with a new layer of tape, the rubber soles were scraped to hell and back, and there seemed to be pebbles falling from them with every step. However, Sonic merely waved her off, claiming that they were perfectly fine. The pink hedgehog frowned at him. The other hedgehog was absentmindedly squeezing at a misshapen ceramics pot on the table, morphing it into a strange figure. It was normal for Sonic to be bored in their art class, as he was hardly ever interested, but countless times Amy had attempted to get his attention in one way or the other, but he just didn't seem interested in talking today. It was unusual, as he was typically a chatterbox. She decided to try again, on a subject he'd be willing to talk about.  
"You were practicing last night, right?"  
"Uh-huh."  
Amy pressed her lips into a thin line, ignoring Sonic's lack of focus.  
"Don't you think some new shoes would be nice for track? I saw some nice ones down at the mall last weekend." She awkwardly nudged him in the arm from across the table, prying in any way possible to get him to open up. Maybe hanging out would loosen him up?  
"Ames," Sonic sighed, slumping his shoulders, "My shoes are fine."  
Amy narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest,

"Sonic, I can hardly consider those shoes. They're practically just tape now!"  
  
Sonic mirrored her movements,  
"I like them."  
  
The two locked eyes, both as stubborn as the other. Amy pushed on, attempting to bribe her friend into doing something, anything with her today.

"We can bring Tails, if you want."

Sonic stared at Amy for another few moments, desperately trying to fend her off. She knew how little they got to hang out during school, with Tails being in lower grade and focusing more on his technical classes...

"And Knuckles."

And of course he would want to have the whole group along if they were all going, they were all best friends, of course.  
Defeated, Sonic took a deep inhale, before cracking a smile,  
"Fine, whatever. I guess that sounds fun. It's been a while since we all got together."  
Amy gleefully clapped her hands together, urging him that the outing would be fun for him no matter what. She hates seeing her friend so moody, even if she's unsure why. With that big obstacle out of the way, Amy rolls up her sweater sleeves, leaning across the table. She points to the grey lump of clay in front of her friend.  
"Now, what in the _world_ is that?"


	2. The Mall

As the clock struck 2:45, a quartet of young teens piled into a rickety old car. Knuckles had begrudgingly let them carpool with him, despite his protests of it possibly breaking down with all of them inside. 

"It's old." he said with a grunt, having to turn the key a few times before it finally sputtered to life. "So don't go blaming me when we break down on the side of the road." Tails piped up from the back of the car,

"You could always let me soup it up for you-" Always ready for a new project, he glanced up at the rear-view mirror in an attempt to catch his friend's eye. Knuckles only rolled his eyes and drove on. The car belonged to his dad, there was no doubt in his mind that he would kill the echidna if he found out he let a 12 year old work on his 'second child' no matter how much Tails excelled in the craft. Sonic elbowed Tails and smiled in an attempt to cheer him up. 

Amy sat in the front seat, beside Knuckles. She started fiddling with the buttons and switches, muttering to herself.

"Do any of these work?" Knuckles huffed in response, shaking his head. Amy furrowed her eyebrows and stared at the red echidna for a moment. He seemed to have caught a glimpse of her confusion and shrugged in response.

"It's just supposed to get me by until I can get my own." Amy solemnly shook her head and crossed her arms, staring outside the window in an attempt to entertain herself. Typically Knuckles would just bum rides from Rouge, who had a nicer and more safe vehicle, but lately she had been caught up with family things. It bothered Knuckles a bit, but he understood how important those matters were to Rouge, so he had reluctantly offered to drive the crew to the mall. Albeit not guaranteeing them a fully safe ride there. 

\--

After a few drawn-out stops from the shoddy breaks and some concerning noises from the engine, the teens had arrived to their destination. The mall was in no way near pristine. The outside had outdated designs and the pavement was cracked with grass growing through it all, but it was still a popular stop for the city's inhabitants. Stepping out of the hot car, Amy had already taken the lead. She pointed out the signs in front of the doors,

"They're finally upgrading the theater, guys!" The pink hedgehog marveled, stopping in her tracks. The previous cinema inside of the mall had stuffy seats with ripped cushions and tattered old screens. Of all the shops and stops inside the mall, it was the most pricey to renovate, but also the most needed. Tails and Amy gawked together as the older of the bunch stayed behind. Sonic ran a hand through his quills, sucking air in through his mouth, 

"Oh man, now she's never gonna leave me alone about movie dates..." Sonic gave a weak chuckle as Knuckles shot him a perplexed look. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the fox and hedgehog walk through the glass doors. Despite the two already being inside, Knuckles leaned down and spoke in a low mutter,

"I though Amy was done with the whole crush thing?" Sonic winced and waved his hands a little, Knuckles glanced at him. "Have you even tried talking to her about it?" The cobalt hedgehog waved his hand dismissively. 

"I dunno, maybe date isn't the right word for it. She's just really pushy about hanging out." The two shared a look before Sonic awkwardly motioned towards the doors. "C'mon, lets just go inside, they're probably waiting." 

Sonic had always been hesitant on dating, he never exactly knew why. Amy wasn't the only one who had shown interest in him in the past, he recalled another student, one of Rouge's friends, shooting him a few strange looks. Nothing was ever said directly between the two. And of course there were also girls who would flirt with the track team, but Sonic never had any interest in them. 

The topic irked him out, it wasn't that he had no interest in dating, but it always felt like he was lying to others about himself, that nothing felt genuine. When Amy confronted him about wanting to become closer and go on dates, he awkwardly shut her down, saying he was too busy with his schedule to date. She didn't seem totally bothered by this, but for some reason that felt like the wrong answer to Sonic. It felt like there was something else he had to say to her, but he wasn't sure.

Sonic and Knuckles eventually caught up with the two freshmen, who were chatting excitedly about a new book the two shared an interest in. Tails turned around to the older two, his expression filled with childlike joy, 

"We totally forgot, the new release of The Chronicles of Pierce came out today!" Sonic grinned at him, crossing his arms over his chest. Tails continued rambling, "Amy says there's a bookstore somewhere around here, you gotta come with us!" Tails reached out a hand, grabbing Sonic by the wrist. The blue hedgehog turned to Knuckles, cocking an eyebrow. Knuckles simply shrugged in response. Sonic looked down at the fox and smiled, 

"Alright buddy, lead the way then." 

On their way to the Bookstore, Amy and Tails talked animatedly about the book series. It seemed to be a medieval era adventure book, starring a time traveller or something. Apparently, Blaze and Silver were also avid readers of the book. Neither Knuckles or Sonic were huge fans of reading, but they tried their best to keep up with the others' conversations in some form.

"So that Pierce guy, he's like some sort of time wizard, right?" Sonic asked as they stepped into the dusty smelling store. The windows were tinged yellow and the carpets were in desperate need of a vacuuming. An old cat with large glasses was sitting at the front desk, a book held very close to her face. She didn't seem to notice the group coming inside. Tails and Amy were searching with haste, responding with bits of trivia in response.

"He's not a time wizard, actually-" Tails started, wandering off to a large bookcase. Amy piped up from the other side of the room,

"His dad was a scientist who built the time machine." 

Sonic glanced over at Knuckles, who was nodding his head as if he understood the story perfectly then. Sonic had decided to search around with his friends to ease the load a little. All the books seemed to be much more recent, some popular books Sonic had seen being praised online. There were also some new copies of classics, books that Sonic remembered reading his summer of freshman year for English. He was hardly listening to the broken up rambling between the two when his hand brushed over a book in the new release section. Sonic gave it a quick glance before picking it up and waving it in the air, 

"Hey I think th-" Before he could finish his sentence, the two younger teens had rushed to Sonic's feet, babbling to each other about the book. He raised an eyebrow and handed it to Tails before stepping back towards his other friend. Knuckles shoved his hands into his sweatpants pockets and watched the two. 

"I've never seen kids so excited over reading." Knuckles said, watching in confusion.

"Well, they aren't exactly the kids we were, though." Sonic responded, fishing his wallet from his pockets. "We weren’t the type to like reading like they are. I think it's something to appreciate." Sonic walked up to the front register, Tails and Amy protesting behind him. Sonic waved a hand, taking their two copies up to the counter, attempting to make some small talk with the older woman behind the register. It wasn't entirely successful, as soon as the books were rung up she merely stuffed her face back in her own book, signaling that it was their time to leave the store. Amy and Tails were already gabbing with each other about the cover art and such as they walked towards the center of the mall. 

\--

Sonic had sincerely hoped Amy had forgotten about the shoes until he noticed she was leading him directly to a sporting goods store. There weren't many people inside, but the ones who were all seemed to be of the same type. Lean, well built mobians with a look of energy. Sonic felt small and scrawny in comparison, but he tried to shrug it off. Amy pulled Sonic through the store with the open book in one hand. The older had to awkwardly maneuver her from behind as she nearly ran into others countless times, but they eventually made it to the shoe section. Tails had stayed behind, looking through some bags and storage items he figured he could make use of, and Knuckles was wandering around the more physical fitness items, like weights. 

Amy had finally lifted her gaze from the pages and wandered around the aisles, mumbling to herself as Sonic awkwardly hung behind her. She seemed to know what she was doing, but it was a little odd watching her talk to herself about something he should have some say in. After a few minutes of walking, Amy spotted what she was looking for. A basic pair of red running shoes with yellow accents on the soles and a bright white stripe down the sides. They were simple, which is always what Sonic went for in style. She handed him the box with a gleeful grin, 

"Try these ones on." Sonic hesitantly grabbed the box, sitting on the floor to put them on. As much as he hated to admit it, they were comfortable, far more comfortable than his old, beaten up pair. They were also much more sturdy than the last, even before he totally destroyed them. The pink hedgehog urged him to get up and walk around in them before prompting him. "How do you like them?"

Sonic smiled a little and bounced his legs gently, 

"They feel pretty great, actually." 

Amy gave a quick smile before grabbing the empty box and holding it out to her friend. He slipped the shoes off of his feet and tugged his old ones back on. As soon as Sonic placed the shoes back inside the cardboard box, Amy speed-walked to the front of the store once more,

"I'm buying these in return for the book." Amy stated simply as Sonic strode up to her, he opened his mouth in protest, but was silenced with a finger being held out to is muzzle. my peered back at him and smiled once more before setting the pair of shoes down by the register. A peppy looking squirrel smiled at the two before ringing them up. She attempted to rope Amy into joining their rewards program, but she awkwardly turned them down. Amy thrust the box towards Sonic once more.

"Put these on and throw those ones away." she demanded, giving a pointed look at his beaten up sneakers. The pink hedgehog glanced back up at Sonic, "Please."

Sonic hesitantly obliged, placing the tattered shoes in the box. Before he could get the chance to even say goodbye to them, Amy tossed them in the nearest garbage can, wiping her hands off on the red sweater she wore. Tails and Knuckles had slowly made their way over to the two hedgehogs, chatting Sonic up about his new shoes as Amy gloated about her impeccable choices in fashion with them.

\--

The day was winding down and people were trickling out of the mall slowly. The four teens were huddled around a shoddy food court table, chatting about school and eating their greasy dinners.

"So my engineering teacher this year said I could possibly get a scholarship in that field of work." Tails said between bites of nachos. Despite the short time period, Tails was already showing that he was the school's top student in nearly anything science. Biology, Chemistry, Engineering; You name it, and Tails was top of the class. 

"Do you think you could help me pass my chem test?" Sonic asked with a chuckle. 

"All I need is for you to tell me everything about Chemistry and I should be able to scrape by." Tails laughed with him, leaning his chin on his hands.

"I dunno, when Professor Robotnik found out I was helping you last year in Biology didn't he threaten to fail you?" 

Sonic crossed his arms in defense, glancing in the opposite direction.

"Its not my fault he sucks at teaching."

Sonic fixed his gaze on the empty tables across the room. At least, they would be empty if he hadn't noticed a familiar face from the night before sitting alone at one of the tables. The black hedgehog from his race in the park was focused on his phone, paying no mind to the now antsy hedgehog across the room. Sonic nearly jumped out of his seat, practically shouting to the others,

"Hey! That's-" Sonic turned towards his friends, pointing across the room. Tails and Amy jumped, Knuckles covered the ear that was facing Sonic and glowered at his friend. They all looked towards the direction Sonic was pointing, then back to their friend in confusion.

"...Sonic, who are you talking about?" Knuckles said, standing up to see if he could see them then.

"Yeah Sonic, there's nobody there." Tails said, giving an awkward smile to the hedgehog. Sonic snapped his head in the direction he saw the mysterious hedgehog and stared in disbelief.

They were right.

_ The hedgehog was gone again! _

Sonic's eats flattened to his head, "Sorry, must have been my imagination." he gave a sheepish smile, but he knew very well he wasn't off the hook.

"Who were you talking about?" Amy pried, leaning her elbows on the table. "They were obviously someone important if you were that caught up about seeing them here." Sonic scratched the back of his head, 

"Well, I don't know him, actually." He explained, unfolding the story of the night prior to his friends. "I was practicing like normal, and this hedgehog just came up and started racing me! He was wearing like, skates? And his quills were all red and black and... gothy?" Sonic started making awkward hand gestures as he explained the race to them. "He was super fast- Not as fast as me, Obviously."

Knuckles gave him a perplexed look,

"Was he wearing a hoodie? A black one with a lot of patches?" Sonic quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually. Why?"

"That's Rouge's new foster brother, Shadow. I've met him before.... I wonder what he's doing here." Almost immediately, the table was filled with an uproar. 

"Rouge has a foster brother? And she didn't tell us?!" Amy cried, slapping a hand down on the table. Knuckles held out a hand in defense,

"I don't even know if she wanted me to tell you guys that!" 

Amy pressed on, mentally digging into Knuckles, "Give me all the details you know," the pink hedgehog started. "Is he going to school with us? And how old is he? Whats he like?"

Although he could hear them all gabbing about the new hedgehog, Sonic wasn't paying much attention; Something just wasn't sitting right with him.

_ Shadow the hedgehog, huh? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I've made the choice to try and update every Weekend!  
> And with the choice I want to actually mention that I'm uh... not gonna update next Weekend... OOPS! I'll be at band camp! Unless I can pump out a chapter and post it while I'm not busy, there won't be a new chapter until the 16-18th! I hope you understand :'D  
> Sorry if the chapter drags on a little too much I just really like writing ppl in slice of life situations I guess.
> 
> If you liked the chapter, don't be afraid to drop a comment! My twitter is @iunchablepizza if you wanna drop by there and say hi or something, have a nice night!!!

**Author's Note:**

> God help me on track with updates I can never finish fanfics.  
> My Twitter is @iunchablepizza if Youre feeling talky, and feel free to drop a comment if you like what you've read! Sorry if the formatting is wonky in places, too!  
> My sonic lore isn't perfect and im trying my best to keep everyone in character :')  
> 💕


End file.
